Annual Mission pilgrimage will honour Our Lady of Fatima this year

MISSION—A popular pilgrimage site in Mission may see
more pilgrims than usual this summer.

The Our Lady
of Lourdes Grotto annually attracts about 3,000 people on the third Saturday in
August to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption. This year, however, has an
added twist: it is the 100th anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima.

“It’s a celebration of Mary. Mary leads us to
Jesus,” said event volunteer Jack Ethier.

In honour
of the significant anniversary, pilgrims will carry a statue of Our Lady of
Fatima (instead of the usual statue of Our Lady of Lourdes) in a procession
towards the grotto.

Ethier said
the statue of Mary at the grotto, which stands on the top of a hill in Fraser
Valley Heritage Park, is a big hit among the pilgrims who go there. “The people always come by in droves to touch
the statue and to say a prayer,” he said.

The people always come by in droves to touch the statue and to say a prayer.Jack Ethier

The area grotto was first built in 1892, 25 years before Mary appeared in Fatima, and was B.C.’s first Marian
shrine. It fell into disuse and was taken apart, but rebuilt and reopened in
1997.

Now,
annually for the Feast of the Assumption, a few thousand
pilgrims visit Fraser Valley Heritage Park to participate in the sacrament of
confession, Mass, and a procession up the hill to the grotto. At the top of the hill, they pray the rosary, touch the statue, collect holy water
from a fountain installed last year, and make their way back down the hill for
a picnic lunch.

A statue of Our Lady of Lourdes is seen in a crowd of pilgrims walking in a procession toward the grotto in 2016. (BCC file photo)

The grotto
isn’t the only site at the park with historic and religious significance. It
also houses an Oblate cemetery and the ruins of a former residential school.

“It’s important
to have the participation of the First Nations people,” Ethier said. They often
lead the procession with drumming.

The pilgrimage is set for Aug. 19 this year. More information is available here.